Archaeologists find 4,400-year-old Egyptian tomb

The well-preserved paintings inside the chamber depict the priestess HetpetALAMY

Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed the 4,400-year-old tomb of a priestess near the pyramids at Giza, a discovery that authorities hope will help to boost the country’s struggling tourism industry.

Experts believe that the intricately-painted mud brick chamber belonged to Hetpet, a member of the royal courts of the 5th Dynasty and a priestess to Hathor, the goddess of fertility, music and dance.

It is a rare new discovery in Giza’s western cemetery, which houses the tombs of Old Kingdom officials and has been extensively excavated since the mid-1840s.

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/GETTY

Artefacts belonging to Hetpet, whose mummy has never been found, were first unearthed in 1909 by a British explorer who sent them to Berlin and Frankfurt. However, the tomb itself was discovered in October 2017, according…